
Athletes and Cell Phone Use: There Are Concerns….
Athletes and Cell Phone Use: There Are Concerns….
Globally there are approximately 5.3 billion mobile phone users. In the age of smartphones, the mobile phone offers its user the ability to communicate, socialize, be entertained, search for information and improve productivity in any form of work.
At the same time, the “problematic” use of mobile phones is also mentioned, which is defined as “the maladaptive dependence or compulsive use of a mobile phone, a situation of uncontrolled use of the mobile phone and at the same time an inability to control its use to the point that one experiences adverse consequences in his daily life Zoe”.
The characterization of mobile phone use as “problematic” has many diagnostic criteria in common with internet use in general. Research shows that the two sexes differ as boys tend to use mobile phones more for games and entertainment, while girls for social interaction purposes.
The “problematic” use of mobile phones has also been studied in athletes, examining their effect on athletes’ performance in training and competition conditions.
Researchers who studied mobile phone use for 30 minutes or more just before a match found it to be detrimental to athletes in terms of decision-making and levels of mental fatigue. They claimed that athletes who “engage” with their cell phone during their training are more likely to exercise at lower intensities! While reducing their effort and improvement…..
As factors that “enhance” the problematic use of mobile phones, the athletes’ attempt to alleviate their boredom and improve their mood, the habit of using them as well as the high accessibility/availability of the mobile phone in every situation are mentioned.
If to these factors is added the fact that people who engage in problematic use have defective self-control and do not have the ability to properly regulate their mobile phone use, then a series of negative consequences emerges….
Problematic mobile phone use has negative effects on several areas of sport such as concentration, training quality, levels of mental fatigue as well as ‘diverting’ their attention away from beneficial sport-related activities such as outdoor exercise time and recovery.
The problems boil down to wasting time, mental fatigue leading to problems focusing attention and finally loss of rest time and sleep hours. Athletes who “show” loss of activation and low levels of alertness.
The percentage of athletes who report problematic use of mobile phones in similar surveys is even close to 40%, a percentage high enough to create serious problems in the performance and general health, physical and mental, of the athletes.
The use of the mobile phone is not a problem, the inability to control the use, develops into “problematic”…
Yannis Zarotis MSc-PhD
Psychologist – Sports Psychologist
www.psychology.org.gr
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